Surprise!
by ShivaLeonhart
Summary: It's Zell's birthday! The only problem is getting him to the party...


Disclaimer: I don't own anything out of FF8. The lucky bastards at Squaresoft do :)  
  
Zell was bummed. Not your regular bad-day kind of thing but actually devastated. Lisa, the  
librarian and his girlfriend of a year, had just dumped him for Irvine. The funny thing was, when  
she asked the cowboy out he had turned her down. He was with Selphie after all. Zell had a  
sliver of hope that maybe Lisa would ask him back out but . . . it had been over a week.   
  
He sat down on his bed and sighed.  
  
Not long after he sat, a quiet rapping was heard on his door. "...Zell?"  
***  
  
On the other side of the door, Squall stood awkwardly. Just around the corner Rinoa and Selphie  
stood, giving an encouraging motion to Squall. "...Zell it's me. Are you ok?"  
  
Zell frowned. I must really look bad if Squall's checking up on me. He walked over to his door  
and opened it. "Yeah I'm ok. Is that all you wanted?"  
  
"Well . . . we're all going to hang out in the Quad if you want to come along."   
  
Zell slumped down. "No thanks man."  
  
Squall shrugged. "Ok then." He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.  
  
He walked up to the girls who were waiting impatiently. Selphie jumped up and down excitedly.   
"Well where is he?"  
  
"He's not coming."  
  
Rinoa spoke up. "Well how are we going to get him to his birthday party then?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Selphie giggled. "Maybe Squall freaked him out."  
  
"...whatever."  
  
Rinoa smiled. "But seriously . . . the party's starting in about 10 minutes."  
  
Without saying another word Selphie marched down the hall and into Zell's room. He was laying  
on the bed staring at the ceiling. Selphie put her hands on her hips. "Are you planning on staying  
here all day?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Even though it's beautiful outside?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
It was silent for a moment, then Selphie started tugging on his arm. "You're coming with me!"  
  
"What the hell?" He easily broke lose from her grasp. "Is there a reason why you're trying to rip  
my arm off?"  
  
Rinoa heard something going on and walked in. "Um . . . Zell, there's . . . a fire in the Quad! A  
great big one!"  
  
Selphie started tugging on his arm again. Zell grunted. "What am I supposed to do about it?   
And would someone please get Selphie off of me?"  
  
Quistis who was passing by laughed. She imagined they were trying to get Zell to the party. She  
walked in to see Rinoa making up wild stories and Selphie trying to jump on his back. He looked  
desperate.  
  
"Quistis!?"  
  
She tried not to laugh. "How about we go for a walk."  
  
Zell looked grateful as the two other girls stopped. "Definitely." He ran out the door.  
  
Rinoa turned to Selphie. "I think Squall did a better job then we did."  
  
***  
  
Irvine was waiting impatiently in the Quad. Strangely, everyone was missing. He looked at his  
watch before standing up and leaving. He could at least find Selphie.  
  
Just as he was leaving Quistis walked in, followed by Zell. Thinking everyone else was there the  
cowboy yelled. "SURPRISE!"  
  
But to his chagrin Zell and Quistis just looked at him dumbly.  
  
"Er . . . I was surprised to see you . . . here."  
  
Zell just shrugged. "Why?"  
  
Irvine just blinked before changing the subject. "Have you seen Selphie?"  
  
"Yeah she tried to kill me!"  
  
Irvine gave a nervous laugh. "That's Selphie for you."  
  
"Huh?" Selphie ran in out of breath followed by Rinoa and lastly Squall. Irvine went and hugged  
her. "Nothing honey."  
  
Quistis smiled. "One . . . two . . . three"  
  
"Happy Birthday!" Everyone cheered and clapped as Rinoa brought over a cake from a nearby  
table.  
  
She lit the candles. "We figured having a birthday party would cheer you up."  
  
"But–"  
  
Everyone gave a quick version of the birthday song since it was an ice cream cake.  
  
"But–"  
  
Selphie clasped her hands together. "Make a wish!"  
  
He blew out his candles. Quistis grinned. "Did you expect anything?"  
  
Zell laughed. "No . . . especially since my birthday isn't until next week!"  
  
  
  
  
Kind of cheesy I know hehe . . . I hope you liked in any way! Please review!  



End file.
